This application relates to an improved structure for a shoe. In particular, this application relates to an improved structure for an athletic shoe, best adapted to be used in sports involving rapid and repeated movements such as running, starting, stopping and turning, such as found in basketball and soccer.
It is desirable that such a shoe be not only light and comfortable to wear, but also provide support for the wearer's foot, as well as ankle support and protection. A shoe that does not properly conform to the wearer's foot during the movements involved in a strenuous dynamic sport such as basketball or soccer can cause discomfort and blisters, hampering the athlete's abilities. Such discomfort and even injury may also be caused by seams and rough portions inside the shoe, and in areas where there is a likelihood of relative movement between the foot and the shoe.
As is well known, the largest cause of injury to an athlete engaged in such sports is an ankle sprain due to over-inversion of the foot. The usual result of such an inversion is a tearing of the lateral collateral ligaments, such as the anterior talofibular or fibulocalcaneal ligaments. An injury to a ligament is not only painful and disabling, but also results in a permanent weakening and a lessening of the ability to participate in strenuous sports. High-topped shoes provided some protection against such injuries, but are only occassionally used by athletes because they are heavy, hot and restrict movement. Even with high-topped shoes, an athlete's ankles are customarily taped to reduce the likelihood of injury. Taping is a time consuming process which may cause skin irritation, and can even cause an allergic dermatitis of disabling intensity.
Another problem in such sports with low-cut shoes that a player can be disabled temporarily by loss of a shoe, it being relatively common for one player to step on the heel of another in a close and strenuous sport such as basketball in the course of a game, causing the player's shoe to be removed from the heel of the foot.
Good traction between the shoe and the playing surface is most desirable. Basketball is often played on wood surfaces and sweat, being an excellent lubricant for rubber, causes slipperiness. Condensation on basketball playing surfaces is also common as many playing surfaces are placed over a refrigerated ice rink in facilities used for several sports. Therefore, it would be desirable to produce an outsole, cooperating with a shoe that stabilizes the foot, which provides good traction on such surfaces for starting, stopping, running, and turning.
Numerous attempts have been made in the prior art to provide solutions for each of the individual problems noted above, but has failed to produce a suitable and practical athletic shoe satisfactory for fast, strenuous sports.